I May Be Redeemed
by EmmaJMcGhee
Summary: An AU based on the 2x19 promo. Includes most characters. Prompt from Serenity Shadowstar. Title may change, depending on who else can come up with a better one :)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, hey! This is from a prompt based on the promo for 2x19, and it'll probably be something like a two- or three-shot AU. I was bored and had access to my mum's laptop for a while, I thought I'd get onto this :) Currently, it's 1:17am here in NZ, so if I don't reply quickly, assume I'm asleep. :P**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't even own this story, all credit goes to Serenity Shadowstar for coming up with the idea! (I have a lot of prompts from her, so it might be those ones coming out soon, depending on how my dear PC fares.)**

**Reviews make me happy! :3 Enjoy!**

* * *

_Well._ Kara Lynn Palamas thought to herself as she watched Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter bicker constantly as they went about making their lunches, Mack chipping in every now and then. _I can see why Grant cares for them._

She sat at one of the tables in the rec room, feet propped up on the edge and swinging back a little on the chair she was seated in. Munching on the egg salad sandwich she'd been waiting all day for, she nearly choked as Bobbi made a particularly witty response.

Mack, on the other hand, winced. "Hey, Bobbi, come on! Take it easy." Bobbi turned to look at him, not happy that he wasn't backing her up. Kara thought she'd step in and see how much they took to newcomers.

"Well _I_ thought it was funny."

The rest of the room looked at her, mouths opening in surprise. Bobbi, on the other hand, morphed hers into a delighted grin. "Thanks, Kara! You boys are just too sensitive." With a wink, she went back to her lunch.

Mack and Hunter grumbled, knowing neither of them would win when the women teamed up.

"It was still in poor taste." Hunter mumbled, wanting to get the last word in. Bobbi just snorted.

"Can't be, Kara liked it." She finished with the cutting board, added the last layers to her sandwich and joined Kara at the table. "So! What's Ward really like behind all the masks?"

Kara blinked at her. "Ah…do you really want to open with that?"

"We're all one big family here. Limited privacy, nosy gossip, the whole shebang." Bobbi waved her sandwich around, nearly losing the contents. "You're part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the fight against Hydra? You're part of the family. So. I'll ask again. What's the deal with Ward?"

Kara had a smile that grew wider as Bobbi continued speaking. _How can they accept me so easily?_ "He's…nice. Sweet. Thoughtful. Somewhat impulsive. Has a bit of a temper that he often tries to rein in."

"Ah. The Berserker Staff." Bobbi nodded, saying the words around a mouthful of food.

"Hey, Bobbi, do you mind not doing that?" Mack complained from the other end of the table. His face held an expression of disgust at her lack of manners. "Wait 'til you've finished what you got in your mouth."

"What? I'm _hungry_."

"Yeah, well, so are the rest of us, love. And we'd rather not lose our appetites." Hunter chimed in as he sat down next to Mack. "Kara agrees with us, right?" he stated, then checked to ensure he had his information right.

She just shrugged. "Didn't bother me. Grant's worse."

Bobbi, her mouth now empty of food, laughed loudly. "Oh, I am so telling Skye that one." She continued to chuckle at the thought of Skye causing mischief with that information. Kara's face fell a little, and Bobbi was instantly on alert. "You okay with that?"

"Yeah, yeah, you can tell her. It's just the way he eats." Kara replied moodily, misinterpreting what the blonde agent was meaning.

"No, I meant mentioning Skye. I'm gonna tell her that anyway."

Kara sighed. "It's just that I don't get why he's still trying to help her after she shot him the last time he did that."

"Maybe it's because he has a clearer idea of what constitutes 'helping'."

"Though his call to not shoot us out of the sky was greatly appreciated." Hunter added. "I distinctly remember the Koenigs calling him out on killing their brother."

"And then he saved their asses." Mack finished for him. "Doesn't sound like an all-round bad guy to me."

"Speaking of the Koenigs, where are they?" Kara asked, wanting to move on with the conversation. _They're taking his side. I'm sure he'd appreciate that, but it sounds like they want him to be with Skye._

"Dunno." Hunter answered her, frowning in thought. "Haven't seen them since the week after Puerto Rico."

"Coulson probably had them on some mission since then." Bobbi said. "We couldn't even find them, so maybe it had something to do with the Theta Protocol?"

"What _is_ the Theta Protocol? You're all making it sound like some devastating secret."

"Well, if it isn't devastating, then why was it kept from May?"

"I don't know, you tell me!" Hunter started raising his voice. "You're the one who knows so much about it!"

"We _don't_!" she snapped back. "It's what we're trying to find out!"

"Guys!" Kara shouted to get their attention. "Keep the domestics to a minimum, would you?"

Mack's booming laugh gained everyone's attention easily. "You'll soon find out that _is_ their minimum."

Kara looked from one ex-spouse to the other, then back at Mack. "So where's the popcorn?"

* * *

Fitz typed away furiously on the holocomm, Simmons offering her help every now and then. They were both pretty tense in their postures, glancing suspiciously at the man relaxing on the couch. Ward, the culprit of their distress, was casually reading a book. Or at least, he was pretending to do so. He was in fact, eavesdropping in on the scientists' discussion on how to find Skye.

"Jemma, please stop, I can do this on my own!" Fitz hissed, frustrated when he was getting nowhere.

"Can you, Fitz? You're struggling as much as anyone. I'm afraid that the only person who could possibly find Skye like this is Skye herself." She countered, and Ward looked up with a frown.

"Is that really the best attitude to go with right now, Simmons?" he said, breaking his hour-long silence with the question. Simmons looked up while Fitz froze.

"You're most certainly not one to talk about _best attitudes_, Ward." She replied furiously. "And if you can't find a way to find Skye that doesn't involve being caught up with Hydra, then I suggest you keep your mouth shut." She turned back to the holocomm, expecting him to go back to his book.

On the contrary, the mention of 'Hydra' in the context of the question sparked a thought in Ward's head. "Actually…" he started to say. Both Fitz and Simmons looked at him now, eyebrows raised in synchronisation. He looked up at them in thoughtful consideration, like he was trying to put his idea into words. "S.H.I.E.L.D. got a read on the teleporter's quantum signature, right?"

"Yes…" Simmons said slowly, as thought she was speaking to a child. Fitz, on the other hand, furrowed his brows as he started to follow the path that Ward had taken.

"And the S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites are functioning again?" he placed his book down on the coffee table and slowly made his way over to them.

"Yes!" she snapped in arrogant exasperation, not really wanting to hear him speak. However, her desperation to find Skye before Hydra did won out. "What is your point?"

"So send out the information to the satellites and you should get a read on his location fairly quickly. He took Skye, so it's only logical that she'd be where he is."

"Yeah…" Fitz mused. "Yeah, that should work." He began opening up the files in the Index.

Simmons was equally impressed._ Why did I not figure this out?_ "Are there any locations we can rule out? It'd make getting the information back a lot quicker."

"If wherever he took her was in North America, then List would've found him before now. Likewise with Strucker in Europe." Ward replied, leaning against the open frame at a reasonably comfortable distance for the scientists.

Simmons huffed. "Are you sure you're not still Hydra? With all that information you've got on them." In contrast to her accusatory statements, however, she wasn't looking at him while she said them. A fact that did not go unnoticed by Ward.

"We got that through Mike's eye." Fitz informed her. "When we sent him in to watch over Bakshi."

"So, Africa, Asia, Oceania. It's still a lot of area to cover."

"Don't forget Antarctica."

"Och, Fitz, I don't think that she'll be there."

"Perhaps you could try focusing on China first." Ward urged. Both pairs of eyes fell on him.

"China?"

"Why China, specifically?" Fitz chimed in, at almost exactly the same time as when Simmons spoke.

"Skye's history started in the Hunan Province. From what Cal said, there's a whole race of powered people, but he wasn't one of them."

"Skye mentioned her mother wasn't supposed to age."

Ward inclined his head. "Right. So, I would imagine that there would be some sort of sanctuary in the area for said powered people to learn to control what they get."

Simmons looked confused. "But the Kree temple was in Puerto Rico! Why would they base themselves halfway around the world?"

"They've probably found other ways of triggering the change. I mean, they've had these abilities for hundreds, perhaps thousands of generations. The temple looked pretty empty when you searched it, right?"

"Aside from Raina. But we didn't find anyone else in those tunnels, and the only population down there right now would be marine life. It's a pity we have this Hydra mess to clean up, or I would've stayed down there just studying it."

It was Ward's turn to look confused. "You had the potential to learn about alien biology and tech, and you just flooded the place? Don't you think it would have helped you figure out what happened in the temple that Skye wasn't telling you?"

Simmons was not happy with his outburst. "Honestly, I was terrified about what could happen. That alien biology and tech cause Trip to crumble and Mack to be controlled."

"And wouldn't understanding it help to counter its effects? S.H.I.E.L.D. tampered round with barely understood alien DNA before, and we all know how well _that_ turned out." He finished with a grimace.

"Can we table this discussion for a later date?" Coulson's voice sounded from the other end of the briefing room. "You have a lead?" FitzSimmons nodded. "Good. Follow it up."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: and another update! I realised while I was writing this, that some of it may sound like a reference to Nepal, but that's not what I intended, so just bear that in mind. :)**

**Thank you to Serenity Shadowstar and Fandoms8 for your reviews! As always, they mean a lot :3**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't even own this story, all credit goes to Serenity Shadowstar for giving me the idea! :)**

* * *

Skye was furious. The kind of furious that had Li Shi constantly shaking as wave after wave of earthquakes rocked the area. Jiaying and Gordon had tried desperately to calm her down, but nothing was working.

"Daisy–" Jiaying started to say, but she was instantly cut off.

"That's not my name!" Skye yelled at her, fully aware that she sounded like Cal.

"It's the name your father and I chose for you." Her mother said softly, choosing to keep calm.

"It's not the name_ I_ chose!"

"Skye, mind what you're saying." Gordon said firmly. "Jiaying is in charge here, and what she says, goes."

"Great! So I can blame _you_ for taking me away from my family!" Skye sneered at her mother. She knew that she was being cruel and unreasonable, but for God's sake, Coulson and Ward _were right there!_

Jiaying looked incredibly hurt. "Skye, _we _are your family."

"I haven't seen Grant in _months!_" the anger was starting to take a toll on Skye, and the tremors started to subside as the woman dissolved into tears. "And now he's back with Coulson, and…and…" she struggled to speak, shuddering breaths distorting her ability to form coherent sounds. Jiaying held out her arms and moved forward a couple of steps. Skye hung her head and all but collapsed into her mother's embrace, swallowing thickly. "And I just wanna tell him I'm sorry!"

Jiaying remained silent while standing in the middle of Skye's room, her arms wrapped around her daughter, just holding her close for comfort. Neither of them had noticed Gordon's distraction, or the sound that had gotten his attention, and he left without a word.

* * *

"What is going on here?!" Gordon demanded as he rounded the corner and walked through the amassing crowd of descendants. A man in a leather jacket stood in the middle, looking very pissed off. "Who are you, and how did you find this place?"

The man, taller than Gordon, frowned even deeper at the tone. He answered the question, however. "Grant Ward." Gordon pursed his lips as he recognised the first name.

"You can all get back to what you were doing!" he barked out before Grant Ward could continue. The crowd quickly dissipated, the courtyard quickly becoming almost empty. "How did you find this place, Grant Ward?" he asked again.

"You leave behind a quantum residue when you teleport."

"It's not teleporting." Gordon is well and truly tired of people assuming otherwise.

"Whatever it is, Hydra caught onto that and can track you anywhere in Europe and North America when you use your powers. It's how we found you here." He shrugged. "That and the earthquakes. Figured Skye was at the epicentre of those."

Gordon sighed and indicated with his head for Ward to follow him. "So we have to evacuate."

"Pretty much. I assume you know what Hydra does to anyone with powers?"

"Painstakingly aware. Our leader herself suffered at the hands of Whitehall." He noticed Ward's brows crease together. "You know who that is."

"I infiltrated his Hydra sector to help S.H.I.E.L.D. get closer to the temple without scaring Whitehall into action too soon. Cal was there, trying to double cross him, and he liked to talk about getting Skye back. He kept calling her Daisy, and her mother was mentioned a lot." Ward looked at Gordon, who was 'eyeing' him suspiciously. "Her mother's alive, isn't she?"

Gordon now looked somewhat impressed. "Yes, but most people here don't know that Jiaying is Skye's mother. And it's best it stays that way."

"Why?" Ward asked as they reached the open doors to a lavishly decorated bedroom.

"I'm sure Skye will tell you herself." Was the reply as the voice's owner stepped into the room. Ward finally recognised who was in the bedroom and came to a halt.

Skye was lying down on her side on the bed, the woman who Ward guessed was Jiaying was sitting by her head, softly stroking her hair and murmuring replies to Skye's brief questions. Jiaying looked up and smiled.

"Skye." She said a little louder than her previous words. "I think there's someone here to see you."

_Her mother knows what I look like? _Ward thought. _Does Skye have a picture or something?_

"If it's not Ward, then I don't wanna know." Skye mumbled into the pillow. Ward's face lit up in an involuntary smile.

"Then today may be your lucky day." Jiaying replied, a knowing smile on her face as Skye picked up her head to look at her, then partially sat up and locked eyes with Ward. Her mouth moved as though she was trying to speak and she sat up straighter, eyes wide with unrestrained emotion. Ward himself took two steps towards her and Jiaying, unnoticed by the lovebirds, gave Skye a nudge.

Skye nearly flew off the bed and ran to Ward, the pair of them wrapping their arms around each other. Her arms were locked around Ward's neck, her hands tangling in his hair and her lips were pressed to the base of his throat as she burrowed her face into his neck. Ward simply held his arms around her torso, almost completely unaware that Skye's mother was in the room.

"I'm sorry." Skye whispered against his skin. Ward blinked and rested his head against hers, tightening his grip.

"Jiaying." Gordon called, catching the attention of everyone in the room. "Mr. Ward here has informed us that we need to evacuate Li Shi."

"What?" Jiaying looked horrified. She got up off the bed and made her way over to him.

"Why?" Skye asked, looking at Ward with the same shock as her mother.

"We followed his," Ward nodded at Gordon. "quantum signature from the residue he left behind in Milwaukee. Hydra already had it before us, but they don't know as much about Skye's history."

"What do _you_ know?" Jiaying questioned, unnerved at how much this human knew about her people, yet comforted by the fact that was here to help.

"That S.H.I.E.L.D. found her in the Hunan Province. I made the suggestion to FitzSimmons to match the readings with other areas of the world, ruling out North America and Europe–"

"Why?" Gordon interrupted.

"Strucker or List would've found you already. They're obsessed with powered people, even more than Whitehall was."

"Was?" Jiaying looked hopeful. "Whitehall is dead?"

Ward looked at Skye, who looked at her mother with a somewhat abashed expression. "Did I not mention that?" When all the response she got was a shake of said mother's head, she grimaced. "Oops." A soft laugh from Ward pulled the corners of her mouth upwards and her gaze to his. He was looking at her with amused adoration.

"So what drew you here? We aren't in China. And how did you match the readings?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites, right?" Skye asked Ward. At his confirming nod, she turned to her mother. "I got them back up and running after we set up base at The Playground." She turned back to Ward. "Where _are_ we? No one would tell me."

"A section of the Himalayas." He answered her. "And we picked up earthquake recordings through the satellites as well." He faced Jiaying as he said this. "So, it's likely that Hydra are not too far behind."

Jiaying looked at Gordon. "I'll get everyone out." He said and hurried out of the room. Jiaying turned to the couple still wrapped in each other's arms.

"I'll need help getting all of our histories out. We can't have that falling into Hydra's hands, they'll know what our people are capable of." She glanced urgently between the two of them, relieved when they nodded.

"You have computer systems with transition readings?" Skye asked, receiving another nod. "I'll back them up and wipe them." She slipped out of Ward's arms.

"I'm guessing all your histories are hard copies?" Ward queried.

"Yes, of course. They span thousands of years." Jiaying replied. "I see your point. Skye, take Mr. Ward down to your father. His strength will be needed here." Skye nodded, grabbed hold of Ward's hand and tugged him towards the main building.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry I took so much longer getting this chapter up! Limited access to the computer with the document, I'm afraid. **

**Bad news; I still don't have m laptop back from ASUS. Good news; I should be getting it back soon! XD**

**Thank you to Fandoms8, Just a Bit Dipsy, alli211 and Serenity Shadowstar for your reviews! :3 Always appreciated!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't even own this story, all credit goes to Serenity Shadowstar for coming up with the idea! :)**

* * *

"May, I'll need you to be in the cockpit for a quick getaway if we have to." Coulson ordered as he strapped a gun to his side. "Ward–" he looked up as he said the name, and frowned when the agent was nowhere in sight. "Where's Ward?"

"Left as soon as we touched down. He's probably found Skye by now." Fitz answered bitterly, checking over his own gun.

"I specifically said for him to stay!" Coulson fumed. "Does the man not listen to orders anymore?!" His outburst begot no response, but everyone was thinking the same thing.

"Grant, did you come alone, or are the others around here somewhere?" Skye asked as she pulled Ward inside Jiaying's house.

"The others are here, but whether they're still on the quinjet or not, I don't know." Ward replied. Skye flashed him a raised eyebrow. "I ran off as soon as we touched down. Figured your people didn't have much time to waste to get as far away from Hydra as possible."

Skye nodded. "Fair enough." She led Ward down a mixture of hallways, finally stopping at a large plain door.

"Ah…why is Cal down here?" Last time Ward checked, this sanctuary was one of the only places he knew of that could accept him for who he is.

"He's not one of us." Skye replied, but she sounded rather annoyed. "Not an inhuman, I mean. So Jiaying keeps him down here away from everyone else for everyone's safety. He's getting better, though!" she hurriedly added at Ward's incredulous look. "He's better when he's with us."

"Because he's happier." Ward said quietly as Skye snagged the key next to the door and unlocked it. Skye looked at him with a smile that shone through her eyes more than her mouth.

"Yeah." She murmured, opening the door to her father's cell. "Dad? We need your help."

"Help with what?" Cal asked, instantly worried as he moved to the pair. "What are you doing here?" he demanded of Ward as soon as he saw him. Then his eyes flicked to Skye and his anger softened. "Oh. I see." His expression became delightful. "Well, what did you need help with?"

"Hydra's on their way." Ward replied immediately.

"And we need to evacuate Li Shi." Skye continued, already walking away.

"And you…want my help to fight off Hydra?" Cal queried as he and Ward quickly followed.

"Not exactly."

"If it comes to that, your strength will be helpful, but Jiaying wants to get all the histories to safety." Ward filled him in. "Skye's gonna back up all the transition readings on the computer system, and you, Jiaying and I need to carry the books."

"And these books, they hold details of every inhuman to go through Terragenisis?" Cal asked, trying to keep the conversation going as the three ran towards Jiaying's office.

"Yes, and that is exactly why Hydra can never get their hands on them." Jiaying herself answered him, walking fast from the other direction. "Daisy, how quickly can you clear the system?"

"Depends how big it is." Skye replied, rushing into the room to get to the computer. Bringing up files of every detail stored on there, she cursed. "Yeah, maybe ten minutes? Grant, how long until you think Hydra gets here?"

"Not sure, but I'll let Coulson know of the situation." He replied, pulling out his SAT phone.

"Coulson?" Jiaying turned around from burdening Cal with two large boxes of books. "The Coulson who killed Whitehall?" Noticing Cal's sudden tension, she turned back to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Relax, Cal. Focus on getting these books to Gordon. He'll know what to do." She was almost cut off by Ward suddenly speaking, trying to placate the man on the other end of the phone line. Cal huffed and walked out of the room.

"Yes, Coulson, but we don't have time. Jiaying is evacuating the sanctuary, and trying to get prevent Hydra from getting information about powered people. Someone needs to stay on the quinjet and make sure that no one arrives without us knowing." There was a brief pause. "She's in charge here." Another lull in his voice. "No, that's not priority right now, and there's no time." Ward rolled his eyes this time. "They may need us to get to safety. Gordon can't take them, it'll just lead Hydra straight to them. I…what?...Yes, he's the teleporter. He doesn't like that word though…Whatever. Coulson, just deal with it. I'm needed here." With that he hung up.

"Look at you, all bossy and everything." Skye teased without turning around. A few more taps on the screen and a loading bar came up, giving her time to glance around. "I mean, standing up to Coulson? Big move, on your part."

Even though Skye was playfully throwing witty remarks at him, he heard the depth of how impressed she was with him. Smirking, he was about to give an equally snarky remark back when Jiaying dumped a box of books into his arms. Skye turned back to the screen, her eyes shining with happiness at how easily they seemed to slip back into place.

* * *

"Okay." Coulson sighed. "Slight change of plan. We need to help evacuate this place before Hydra gets here."

"You mean that _wasn't_ the initial plan?" May asked flatly.

"You were just going to get Skye and get out _whilst_ knowing that Hydra's coming?!" Simmons demanded, her voice rising by a few octaves.

"We couldn't be sure that Hydra were on their way. But Ward's worked them into a frenzy, and now they're terrified.

"So would you be if _your_ leader had been experimented on by Whitehall."

The team all looked as one to the opening of the quinjet. A tall blond man stood just below the ramp, hands behind his back and feet apart. He had the stance of a soldier, and no eyes.

"You're the teleporter." Fitz said quickly. The man's face turned towards him.

"You're the second man to call me that in fifteen minutes."

"Would 'quantum jumper' be more accurate?" Simmons put in.

"I might be able to answer that if I knew what you meant by that." He replied, turning towards her. "But save it for later. My people need to be as far away from here as possible."

"Agreed." Coulson strode forward. "Your people know the area well enough to hide?" The man nodded once. "Good. We'll hold Hydra off, and Agent May will be air support." The man looked at him for a moment longer, then an energy field sparked into life around him, and he was gone.

"That's an efficient way to travel." Fitz muttered. He holstered his gun and patted the last strap down on his bulletproof vest.

"But is it as fun?" May asked, swivelling back to face the front of the quinjet. "Get moving, we don't have much time.

* * *

**_HOURS LATER_**

Ward scrambled over smouldering rubble, gun in hand and eyes sweeping. The terrain was eerily silent, and the beating in his chest was becoming increasingly unbearable.

"Skye!" he called out. "Coulson!"

Movement in his peripheral vision on his left side caused him to whip around, gun cocked and aimed at whoever was there. They froze and tensed up, waiting for the fatal shot.

"Simmons." Ward breathed, lowering his weapon. "Where's everyone else?"

Simmons' eyes were hard, but they held confusion. Ward had the perfect opportunity to finish her off and later claim it was Hydra, and that he couldn't get to her in time. Instead, he had relaxed as soon as he realised it was her. It took her a few moments and several dry swallows before she found her voice.

"I don't know. I was with Coulson, but we got separated…are they all dead?" she sounded like she was going to burst into tears. Ward's tortured look only increased her alarm.

"I hope not." He rasped out. He staggered over another pile of wood and concrete, getting a better view of the surrounding landscape. "Simmons…" he looked back at her. "Was anyone in our quinjet?"

As it seemed to be possible, Simmons face drained of whatever colour was left. "May was." She answered him, her voice barely reaching his ears. "Is she…?" she couldn't voice the rest of the question.

Ward looked towards the crash site, the twisted bits of metal looking dangerously like the pilot's grave. Glancing back at the biochemist-turned-field-agent, he raised his gun and fired. Simmons barely had time to freeze in horror before the shots rang out and she realised that she wasn't the one he was aiming for. Turning around she caught the collapse of the black-clad soldier that could only have been Hydra.

"If she's alive, you're going to need to help her, Simmons." Ward's voice brought her back to reality. "Simmons, are you okay? You up to that?" he asked, concerned.

Simmons was still catching her breath. "Could you…give me some…heads up before you do that?" she panted. "Like a 'get down', or something along those lines?"

Ward, surprisingly, chuckled breathlessly. "If next time, I can do that, I will." He promised. "Now come on. May needs help, if she's still alive."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Finally finished the last chapter for this prompt! Thanks to Serenity Shadowstar for the idea :) I know it didn't go quite along the line lines of what you wrote out for me, but my muse had other ideas. However, the fluff is still here!**

**There are some spoilers for the season 2 finale in here, and I didn't mean for it to go like that, but my imagination just went off on its own tangent.**

**Thank you to Just a Bit Dipsy, Maddison1803, shikasgirl10, and Serenity Shadowstar for your reviews! :3 Love you guys to bits!**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't even own this story, credit to Serenity Shadowstar for coming up with the idea! :)**

* * *

Taking careful steps to halfway down the mound he was standing on, Ward reached out a hand to help Simmons clamber over. The scientist was nervous about being close to him, but placed May's life ahead of her own discomfort. Together, they made their way down the other side, Ward keeping his hands up around Simmons to prevent her from slipping too much. Once the pair had safely reached the ground, they looked towards the crashed quinjet in time to see May drop from the opening under the wing.

"Oh, lord. I didn't think it was that bad." Simmons whispered, horrified at how damaged the aircraft was.

"Well, May's alive." Ward pointed out, hoping to cheer her up. "You need any help?"

"I'm going to need to get to somewhere safe and secure without the possibility of a quinjet falling on us." She replied, refusing to look in his direction. A moment passed before she moved towards the pilot, skirting around bits of debris.

"You're welcome." Ward snarked as Simmons moved out of earshot. He glanced around as he followed her, checking for signs of movement, but the scene was void. Simmons had already reached May, and was turning her over. "She awake?" he called out.

"No." Simmons shouted back, still not looking at him. She did, however, look around for somewhere to go. "Carry her over there!" she pointed to a wooden porch that was remarkably clear. Ward reached the pair of woman and gently picked May up, following the biochemist.

"Ward!" a familiar voice called out, causing Ward and Simmons to spin around, May's head lolling loosely in Ward's arms. Coulson waved from the edge of a crater, some few hundred feet away. "Jemma!"

"Where's Skye?" Ward shouted back as Coulson started navigating his way over to them.

"Where's Fitz?" Simmons called out, just as anxious.

Coulson didn't answer, reserving his breath for getting over to his agents.

"Ward." Simmons got his attention, and waved him over to the porch. Ward laid her down carefully and Simmons immediately got to work, exposing the patch of skin on her side that had been punctured.

"What's wrong with May?" Coulson's voice grabbed Ward's attention.

"Where's Skye and Fitz?" he fired back, just as quickly.

"I don't know. I–" he was cut off by Gordon, appearing beside them. Skye standing next to them, drowsy, but alive.

"Skye!" Ward said breathlessly, moving towards her. She managed a smile before taking a couple of steps towards him and collapsing into his arms. "What happened to you?" When she didn't answer, he looked to Gordon in desperation. "What happened to her?"

"Jiaying." Gordon said gravely. He too looked worn out, and there was a cut on the side of his face that was bleeding heavily. "She'd gotten hit and was dying. So she tried to absorb Skye's life."

"_Absorb?!_" Ward exclaimed, shocked.

"Here, let me help you with that." Coulson said gently, holding out some gauze and a small bottle of disinfectant. Gratefully, Gordon allowed him to wipe at the blood covering the side of his face. They stayed like this for a few minutes, with Coulson cleaning up Gordon, Simmons seeing to May to prevent the older woman from dying, and Ward trying to rouse Skye.

"Jemma." Fitz's voice was faint and echoed, but all of the awake members of the group heard it.

"Gordon." Ward started to say, but the Inhuman was already on his way, reappearing a moment later with Fitz.

"Whoa, that's weird…Jemma!" the engineer exclaimed as he staggered a little from the landing then looked up at his new surroundings. His gaze drifted to May, and his jaw dropped open in shock. "What happened to her?"

"The quinjet crashed." Ward said tersely. Fitz tensed up as soon as he started talking, but he at least looked at the specialist, noticing Skye being held limply against him. When Ward nodded in the direction of the broken aircraft, Fitz's eyes followed and widened as he saw the crash site.

"Sir, I can't treat her here, she needs surgery as soon as possible." Simmons spoke up as she finished her hurried examination of May. Ward, Coulson and Fitz all looked at her, then at Gordon.

"I can't take someone with me when they're that injured." The Inhuman said with all due seriousness. "I'll bring some of our doctors and you can stabilise her here."

"But I don't have the medical supplies for a surgery here!"

"I'll bring that with me." And in an instant, he was gone.

* * *

The babble of the hallway outside her room invaded the sense of serenity that Skye was enjoying. That is, as much as anyone unconscious can enjoy it. Groaning, she opened her eyes, grateful for no harsh lights stabbing into her vision. Blinking a few times, the details of her room in The Playground came into focus, the only light coming through the frosted window in the door.

Sitting up, she noticed she wasn't the only one in the room. Ward sat in a chair not far from her bed, slumped in sleep with his head hanging forward. The sight was peaceful, if a little amusing. A little amount of drool was dragging down from his bottom lip.

"Ward." She said, then blinked in surprise at how raspy her voice was. Moving her hand to her throat, a tug on her arm brought the IV drip to her attention. "What?" she muttered confused, pulling the drip out of her arm. She tried to think back to what happened to her that could have warranted the medical treatment.

"Hey." A low voice drew her out of her thoughts and she looked over to see Ward slowly sitting more upright. "You feeling okay?"

"Yeah, why? What happened? Why'd I need an IV?" Skye's brows were creased together in confusion. Ward's expression quickly mirrored hers.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"Gordon brought you to us, and then you just collapsed." Ward said this slowly in case any hint of recall showed in her eyes, but there was nothing but concerned confusion. "He said that Jiaying had tried to…absorb your life."

A devastated expression slid onto Skye's face as she shifted backwards until she could lean against the headboard. "How can I not remember that?" she breathed, her voice still a little hoarse.

"Some side effect of it not entirely working?" Ward suggested as he stood and retrieved a glass of water from on top of the dresser. Handing it to her, he grimaced a little. "According to Gordon, no one that she got a hold of escaped her grasp. Until you."

"How many did she kill?" Skye whispered with horror.

"I don't know. But try not to focus on that. Most of the Inhumans are safe and the histories and records of your people all made it out without being intercepted by Hydra." He placed a comforting hand on Skye's, a steady look of adoration in his gaze.

Keeping eye contact with Grant, Skye laced her fingers through his, enjoying the feeling of butterflies that it ignited in her stomach. "Is the rest of the team alright?" When Ward sucked in slightly, she knew something was wrong. "Grant."

"May crashed the quinjet. Something punctured her side; not sure what it was. Simmons and the doctors at…" he tried to remember the name for the sanctuary.

"Afterlife." Skye supplied.

"At Afterlife," Ward acknowledged. "Performed emergency surgery on site. She should be fine with time."

"But…what about Mike and Lincoln?" Skye panicked, and Ward felt a surge of jealousy shoot through his heart.

"Kara, Morse, and Hunter went with FitzSimmons and Coulson to rescue them." He replied gently and Skye nodded, taking a small gulp of water. Placing it on the floor, she looked back up at Ward and was somewhat taken aback by the intensity of his gaze. She decided to roll with it.

_What the hell, I almost died!_ She thought, as she grabbed hold of the back of Ward's neck and pulled him into a kiss. His hands automatically came up to cup her face, his tongue seeking entry. She opened her mouth at once, moaning as Ward moved to push her onto her back on the bed.


End file.
